Pokemon: Life at Sea
by buneary855
Summary: Dustin, a young boy raised on the seas, is desperate to explore the land with his best friend, a Mudkip named Muddy. His life on the ocean can not fulfill is yearning to be on the mainland.
1. The SS Qwilfish

**Chapter 1: S.S. Qwilfish**

A life at sea. Something Dustin had known his whole life - the sea spray, the shaky beds, the dry food. He was born on a boat - his dad was a sailor, his mother a cook. He grew up sailing the seven seas, he had seen countless places. But Dustin still felt like he hadn't seen enough.

He was longing for adventure - as if living on a boat was not one enough. He was longing for the land.

Dustin had a Pokemon - one he was given by his uncle in Slateport City many years ago. His Pokemon grew up alongside him. They were best friends. In fact, Dustin's only friend was his Pokemon - his Mudkip named Muddy.

Muddy did everything with Dustin. They explored the ship when he was little, and now that Dustin was older, they occasionally played pranks on the crew of the boat. The crew knew Dustin well - he was the captain's son, after all - and they raised him alongside the captain.

Dustin was a child of the S.S. Qwilfish. His mother cooked the meals for the workers and his father steered the boat into port. The Qwilfish was his hometown, or what he thought was a hometown. That being said, he had never seen a small town. The smallest town he had ever seen was Pacifidlog Town, and it wasn't much of a town to begin with - just a bunch of houses on stilts.

But now was a different day - Dustin's eighth birthday. The S.S. Qwilfish was sailing south to Lilycove City, a vibrant and touristy city along the eastern coast of mainland Hoenn. It passed Mossdeep the day before, and was now moving alongside the rocks that guarded Route 124.

Dustin was sitting in his hammock on the roof of the ship, and Muddy was in his little kiddie pool, squirting a Water Gun into a pail. Dustin was reading a travel brochure about Lilycove City, and was instantly captured by the idea of the Contest Spectacular. He stood up out of the hammock and knelt beside Muddy. Muddy stopped filling the pail and turned to see what Dustin was pointing at.

Though Muddy could not read the writing on the pamphlet, he eagerly looked at the pictures of Pokemon performing on the bright stage and splashed about in his pool. Dustin grinned, and he folded the brochure in half, sliding it into his back pocket.

The foghorn then blew behind them, a loud groan signifying the arrival of the ship. Dustin picked up Muddy and hopped off of the roof, entering the cabin of his father. His father turned to him. "We'll be there any moment now, son." Dustin held Muddy in front of him and grinned deviantly as his father pulled out his wallet. "There's a department store in Lilycove City, you know. Here's some money. We'll be docked for a few hours."

Dustin thanked his father and grasped the money in his hand. He put Muddy down and the two ran to the bow of the ship. He felt the salty air blow by his short hair, and then the air changed, becoming sweet-smelling - the smell of land. Muddy squealed with excitement.

The foghorn blew again, and the shipyard opened its gates. Dustin picked up Muddy as the boat docked against the shore, and then walked to the ramp that extended to the mainland.

Sailors from the Qwilfish and workers from the shipyard hurried up and down the ramp, carrying supplies and boxes from other parts of the world. Dustin weaved his way around their feet and finally found himself walking on the pavement.

He continued to sneak around the men until he discovered a quiet path that he could place Muddy down on. Muddy followed Dustin's footsteps down the cobblestones, hiding in the shadow of his human friend.

They turned a corner and Dustin gasped in awe. The building at the end of the path glowed with a rainbow of neon lights and metals. The sign on the top read 'Pokemon Contest Spectacular Held Here!'

Dustin understood the message, and he picked up his best friend once again. They approached the brilliant building and entered its sliding glass doors. Inside, loud music pumped through the hall. Dustin spun in circles, struggling to comprehend the elatedness exuding from everyone around him.

Pokemon of all colors paraded through the room, and Dustin hobbled up to the counter. "Hello, there." A blonde woman said from behind it. "Welcome to the Lilycove Contest Spectacular! Would you like a ticket?" Dustin nodded. "That will be ten Pokedollars." The woman smiled brightly.

Dustin carefully counted his money and placed it on the table. The woman took the money and handed him a ticket. She directed him to walk around the hall and enter through the door to the left. He followed her directions and brought Muddy beside him. They sat down in their assigned seat, Dustin in the chair and Muddy on his lap, and waited for the contest to begin.

People filed in and sat on either side of Dustin. A man with blue hair sat beside him, and on his other side sat a woman with red hair. Dustin paid little attention to his fellow audience members as the event began.

A contestant ran out on stage. He let his Pokemon - a Mawile - out onstage, and the Pokemon elegantly spun. Dustin cheered for the Pokemon as the next contestant let out their Gardevoir. The beautiful Pokemon curtseyed.

The next contestant ran onstage. Her hair was the same color as the man beside Dustin. She pulled out a Pokeball, made a gesture with her arm, and then an Altaria flew out of its Pokemon. Dustin cheered louder for the cloud-like bird Pokemon.

The final entrant let a Machoke out, and it bowed gracefully.

The appeal round ended, and the performance round began. The four Pokemon used their best moves to show off their beauty, and then the audience cheered for whomever they thought was the most beautiful. Dustin, of course, cheered for the Altaria, which seemed to be the crowd favorite.

The man beside Dustin agreed, and as the scoreboard began to show the results, he shouted with glee to see Lisia and her Altaria win. "That's my niece!" He called.

Dustin turned to him after the crowd settled down. "Lisia is your niece?" He asked. Muddy stared up at the man as Dustin continued. "That's really cool!"

The man pulled out a small bag. "Yeah, she is, son." He handed Dustin the bag. "I noticed your enthusiasm for this event the whole time you were watching. You couldn't keep your eyes off of the stage. I know this isn't much, but I want you to have this."

Dustin grinned. "Thank you, sir." They stood up, and Dustin exited the hall. He hurried down the now-crowded path and returned to his ship, regaining his place on the roof of the cabin with Muddy in his swimming pool.

Muddy eagerly watched as Dustin opened the bag, reaching in and pulling out a little bell-shaped shell. It jingled sweetly and Dustin grinned, amused by the sound. He pulled out a string from the bag and tied it loosely around Muddy's neck. "You can wear this Shell Bell, Muddy." He said, attaching the bell to the twine.

Muddy hopped in his kiddie pool and squealed at the noise.

The foghorn blew again, and the boat departed from shore. Dustin looked off at Lilycove City and sighed. "We'll be back." He said to himself as the sweet air morphed back into the familiar salty wind that whipped against the side of the ship.

Muddy curled up in the pool and fell asleep underneath the blanket of stars. Dustin did the same in his hammock, letting the gentle rocking of the waves drift him off to sleep.


	2. The Making of a New Friend

**Chapter 2: The Making of a New Friend**

It was two years since Dustin's arrival in Lilycove - his tenth birthday, now, celebrated by him and Muddy. The boat had left Olivine City days ago, and was just passing the Whirl Islands now.

Muddy was splashing about as always, and Dustin was doodling in his journal, the journal he had purchased for himself back in Coumarine City, a city in the Kalos region. His drawing was of a cloud Pokemon - Altaria - though it was missing its antennae.

The sun beat down overhead when suddenly the boat stopped. The crew let down the ramp onto an island - more a sandbar than anything else. Muddy looked up in surprise, and Dustin scooped his Mudkip up, following the men down to the shores.

The land felt questionably stable in comparison to the rocky boat. Dustin poked around the rocks and tidal pools that surrounded the opposite side of the island, when he suddenly found a shimmering pink Pokemon. The Pokemon scampered out of its hiding place quickly, moving from side to side until it bumped into Muddy. Dustin giggled and extended his hand to the Pokemon.

The Pokemon acknowledged his hand by gently nibbling on a finger. Muddy stared at it with questioning eyes, and then the Pokemon spoke. "Corsola! Corsola!" She squealed. Dustin laughed at the cute sounds she made, and then picked her up with one arm and Muddy with the other.

"I'm going to call you Magenta." He said confidently. "Do you want to come on our boat with me? We can travel across the ocean together!"

Muddy cheered, and Magenta squealed once more, letting Dustin know she wanted to come. Dustin put her and Muddy down and skipped back to the boat in elation. He helped his Pokemon ascend to the roof of the cabin, and then hopped into his hammock.

Muddy showed Magenta his kiddie pool, with which he happily shared with Magenta. They splashed each other playfully as Dustin read a travel brochure. As they played, the captain of the ship climbed up to greet them. "I see you've made a new friend, son." He inspected the Pokemon. "What a fine Corsola."

Dustin grinned. "I found her in a tide pool and she wanted to come with us."

His father knelt by the poolside. "Nice to meet you, Corsola." He said, gently rubbing the coral on Magenta's back. He then looked back up at his son and continued. "We're headed for Slateport City in Hoenn next. It should only be a few days before we arrive." He stood up and began to climb down the ladder, when he stopped to add a final word. "Come down to the cabin for dinner tonight, alright?"

Dustin agreed and rolled over to root around through his bag full of travel brochures. After pulling out one about Slateport City, he flipped through the pages to find that the city had a Contest Spectacular Hall near its northern gate. He pointed it out to Muddy and Magenta, who both spun in the pool in delight. Dustin folded the brochure and slid it into his back pocket.

Later that day, he led his Pokemon down to the captain's quarters, where his mother and father were preparing dinner. His father sat at the end of the table with sweat dripping down his forehead from the hard day of navigating through the Whirl Islands. His mother placed three large bowls on the table, one filled with vegetables, one filled with noodles, and one filled with broth. She placed smaller bowls in front of her husband and Dustin.

Dustin's father helped him fill up his bowl with noodles and broth, and then did the same for himself. Dustin's mother placed dishes of Pokemon food on the floor for Magenta and Muddy, and then she sat down with her family.

They ate the food quickly, and then the captain stood up. "Happy Birthday, Dustin! You're ten years old now, which means you're half-way to being a grown-up!" He turnsed around and walked over to a shelf, where he grabbed a present and gave it to Dustin.

Dustin grinned and carefully unwrapped it, revealing a Pokedex. "Wow!" Dustin cried. "You got me a Pokedex? Thank you!"

His mother smiled. "We found it in Olivine City. Someone by the name of Birch was visiting Johto, and we told him about you, so he gave us this. A complete Pokedex, filled with the information of every single Pokemon in the world!"

Dustin booted up the device and selected Mudkip. It read about Mudkip's stats and traits, and Dustin stared at it in awe.

After dinner, he brought it up to his hammock with Magenta and Muddy. After carefully placing it under his pillow, he let the waves rock him asleep as he always did.


	3. Corsola Caper

**Chapter 3: Corsola Caper**

The sun rose early in the clear sky. A few days had past, and the S.S. Qwilfish was nearing Slateport City. It had turned around Sootopolis City the night prior, and was now in a direct path to the destination shipyard.

Dustin woke up with the sun, rising before the crew. He could see a flat stretch of land ahead of him, which quickly grew buildings and docks. Magenta and Muddy were awake now, too, and they were lazily sitting in the pool together.

The horizon soon expanded to include parts of mainland Hoenn, and finally it revealed the massive volcano called Mt. Chimney. Dustin pointed at the mountain. "That's a volcano. It spews lava out of its top sometimes."

Magenta eagerly listened, as it was her first time in Hoenn. Muddy remained seated as Dustin pulled out a travel brochure. "There's another Contest Hall in Slateport. When we get there, we can go watch one if it is playing."

Magenta spun with delight as the ship became busier with crew members. The foghorn blew loudly, and seemed to echo off of the water. Dustin picked up his Pokemon and descended to the captain's quarters like he always had done.

In the room, his father handed him some money immediately. "Slateport has a large market. I thought you might want to go shopping."

Dustin took the money and thanked the captain, then exiting the cabin and hurrying on deck. The ship was less than the length of a Wailord away from the shipyard, subsequently causing the arrival time to be brief.

The boat docked in the building and Dustin was the first to get off of the ship. Magenta and Muddy followed him in a straight line away from the yard, pacing moderately up the road to the Contest Hall.

Dustin sighed at the sight of it. The neon lights he had seen before were dormant, along with the music and the people. He kicked a pebble across the way when Muddy squirted him in the face with a Water Gun. "What is it, Muddy?" Dustin said angrily.

Muddy turned around and pointed southward. Just a few blocks away was the market his father had talked about. It buzzed with an ecstatic vibe, leading Dustin's interest away from the Contest Hall. He picked up his Pokemon and walked down the road, entering the congregation of stalls.

Merchants from across the Hoenn region occupied the shops - some were selling shells and salts from Mossdeep City, some sold cookies from Lavaridge, some sold flutes from Fallarbor.

Magenta asserted herself to the front of a line at a shop. Dustin quickly ran to pick her up, but the shopkeeper stopped him from running off. "What a fine Corsola you have. The coral on its back is quite nice."

Dustin turned to him. "Thank you, sir." He said calmly.

The man reached for Magenta's back and grabbed onto a piece of coral. "These sell for high prices, you know."

Magenta cried as Dustin shouted at the man. "Let go of my Pokemon!" He tried to pull Magenta away, but the man's grip was too strong. Dustin scowled, when Muddy hopped up onto the table. "Muddy! Use Mud Shot!"

Muddy obeyed, slapping the man's face with his mud. The man dropped Magenta into Dustin's arms and Dustin and his Pokemon sprinted away from the market. They ran until they arrived on the beach, which was crowded with people.

Dustin checked the time to see that he still had two hours before the ship departed, so he found a place near the ocean's edge and set Magenta down. The three built a sand castle, and as they finished, a bird Pokemon attached a small flag to the top of it. Dustin looked up, startled, to find the mischievous Wingull flapping away.

Wingull squawked at Dustin, and Dustin laughed. "Hello, Wingull." He said. "Thank you for finding that flag for us." Wingull squawked again, and perched on Magenta's back. The gull Pokemon squealed and pecked Dustin's head.

Dustin pet Wingull until he noticed the time. His ship was leaving in ten minutes. As he got up, Wingull followed him to the shipyard. Dustin turned around to see the Pokemon. "You followed me!" He said as he picked up Magenta and Muddy. "Do you want to come with me on the boat? We sail all over the world!"

Wingull nodded and squawked back.

Dustin grinned. "I'm going to call you Squawk. Welcome aboard the S.S. Qwilfish!"

Squawk flew on board, and joined Dustin on the roof of the captain's cabin. The boat departed from the shore and sailed away. Dustin's father came up to the roof. "A new friend again? Nice to meet you, Wingull."

Dustin smiled and sat up in his hammock. "His name is Squawk."

The man smiled and then sat down beside the kiddie pool. "We're making a quick stop in Dewford Town and then we'll be off." He said. "Goodnight, Dustin."

Dustin laid back down as his father descended the ladder. Muddy and Magenta curled up in their plastic pool, and Squawk perched on the top rung of the ladder leading down.

The salty wind became apparent once again as Dustin shut his eyes.


	4. Departure from the Sea

**Chapter 4: Departure from Sea**

Dustin woke up later now. He was nearing his teenage years and his body needed more sleep. It had been two and a half years since his last stop in the Hoenn region, and now the S.S. Qwilfish was returning to Petalburg, a smaller city on the western coast of mainland Hoenn.

The boat turned north after passing Dewford Town, and soon sailed to the docks west of the city. The sun was halfway across the sky as the foghorn honked and Dustin scooped up Magenta and Muddy.

He descended from his roof with his Pokemon. Dustin's thirteenth birthday was coming up, and Dustin only wished for one thing.

In the cabin downstairs, he sat at the dining table while his father steered the ship into the docks. His mother was sitting beside him, and he waited for his father to join them. Once the ship was anchored, the captain sat on the other side of Dustin.

Magenta, Muddy and Squawk were on the floor as Dustin spoke. "Well, mom and dad, I'm almost thirteen, and I've been thinking about what I wanted for my birthday, and I've decided. Would it be okay..." His voice trailed off in fear of rejection, but he calmed himself. "... if I went on a journey? Here, in Hoenn?"

His parents stared blankly at him, and then his father grinned. "We've been waiting for you to ask that question! Of course you can go on a journey - you're thirteen, for goodness sake!" The captain stood up and pulled out a backpack. "This pack is full of supplies - Pokeballs, Potions, you name it. We've had it ready for you for months now!" He tossed the bag to Dustin, who opened it up. Inside, he found six Pokeballs, six Potions, six Full Heals, camping supplies, and a Town Map of each region. He grinned with enthusiasm.

"Thank you so much!" He cried. He ran up to the roof and gathered his belongings. The family walked off of the boat together, and entered Petalburg City. The city was quiet, though it was full of Pokemon.

The foghorn on the ship blew loudly after a few minutes, and the family walked back to the docks. Dustin's mother kissed him on the cheek, and his father hugged him tightly. He whispered to his son as they hugged. "See you in Lilycove. Good luck, son. If you ever need anything, you know who to call."

Dustin watched as his parents ascended the ramp to their ship. The ramp was taken down, and the anchor was removed from the water. The ship began to pull away from the dock, and Dustin waved to his parents with tears in his eyes, watching his hometown sail away from him.

The dock was soon empty of people minus Dustin, who sat on its edge with his Pokemon. He pulled out a town map of Hoenn from his bag. "It looks like there are three ways for us to get to eastern Hoenn - we can go north, to Meteor Falls, northeast, through the Rustturf Tunnel, or east, across a narrow stretch of water."

Muddy pointed at the third option and squealed. Magenta agreed, and Squawk chirped in approval. Dustin folded the map up and nodded. "I guess we're headed to Slateport City, then." He said. "Let's go!"

He returned Squawk and Magenta to ease the travelling and reentered Petalburg City. Muddy followed behind him as he navigated the streets to finally reach the open route. Dustin sighed and then picked up Muddy. "Here we are, Muddy. Route 102 and the start of our journey." He took a deep breath and stepped onto the grass, feeling it squish underneath his shoes. He jumped in surprise. "I've never felt such soft ground before."

Muddy giggled and hopped out of his arms. They walked down the tree-lined path, watching Pokemon slink through tall grass and others fly overhead. Dustin found a small pond and settled down beside it. "The sun will set soon. I think we should camp here."

Muddy agreed, so he sat down beside his trainer. Dustin unpacked the camping supplies and built a small tent. He then unrolled his sleeping bag and returned from inside. Muddy had collected sticks and rocks, so Dustin lit them with a lighter. He let his other Pokemon out, and they sat around the fire.

The air was sweet and calm as they absorbed the forest's calming aura. As the moon rose into the night sky, Magenta squirted the fire with Brine, putting the flames out. She and Dustin's other Pokemon followed Dustin into the tent, curling up beside him and falling asleep on the land.


End file.
